I am always looking for innovative and unique ways to use my vegetables! This week’s CSA share from Taproot Farm included a beautiful large eggplant and a bunch of tomatoes! Recently I have been craving Indian cuisine and I thought of one of my favorite dishes when I go out to eat – Chicken Makhani! So then I got the inspiration to make my own version of makhani, using organic garlic, parsley, onion, tomatoes and eggplant all from Taproot Farm! 🙂 Eggplant can often be used as a meat substitute due to it’s texture and it was a perfect addition to this dish. The fresh tomatoes also made the makhani sauce super fresh and incredible in taste. I did not add a ton of spices to this dish in the interest of keeping the dominating tomato and other vegetable flavors, but please feel free to add more spices as you see fit! 🙂 The makhani was served with both basmati rice and pita bread with garlic (typically I would just buy garlic naan from our local store, but since they were out this week pita bread made for a great substitute!). This dish was a huge hit among everyone who tried it and I am already looking forward to making it again. I hope you enjoy it – happy cooking and eating! 🙂
Eggplant and Onion Covered in a Lightly Spiced Tomato Makhani Sauce, Served Over White Rice and Paired with Toasted Garlic Pita Bread
Makes 4 Servings
Post by © Alysha Melnyk 2018
Kitchen Tools:
Oven, Preheated to 400°F
Knife
Peeler
Dry Measuring Cups
Liquid Measuring Cups
Measuring Spoons
Sheet Pan
Parchment Paper
Large Sauce Pan with Lid
Food Processor
Ingredients:
For the Roasted Vegetables:
6 Heaping Cups of Eggplant, Peeled and Diced (I used 1 large eggplant to get this amount)
1 Cup Sweet Onion, Diced
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt (*To Taste)
Pepper (*To Taste)
For the Tomato Makhani Sauce:
2 Cups Tomato, Diced
1/4 Cup Raw Cashews
2 Cloves Fresh Garlic, Minced
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Water
4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, Melted
3 Tablespoons Garlic Tomato Paste
2 Tablespoons Tomato Ketchup
1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
1 Teaspoon Sugar
3 Teaspoons Tandoori Masala Seasoning (*You can find this at the grocery store and also can google recipes to know what spices to mix if you already have them/can’t find the seasoning)
1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
Salt (*To Taste)
Pepper (*To Taste)
For Serving:
Rice of Choice (*Cooked to Package Instructions)
Naan or Pita Bread
Fresh Parsley
Instructions:
1. First, preheat the oven to 400°F and line sheet pan with parchment paper.
2. Next, peel and dice eggplant and onion and place pieces on sheet pan.
3. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper as preferred, tossing to coat everything.
4. Roast in oven for 30 minutes (tossing once at the 15 minute mark).
5. While vegetables are roasting, you can prepare your makhani sauce.
6. First, dice tomato. Add diced tomato to food processor and blend until smooth.
7. Next, add cashews in food processor (blend), then garlic (blend), then olive oil (blend), and then water (blend) until everything is smooth and unified.
8. Pour the sauce into your large sauce pan and stir in melted butter, garlic tomato paste, tomato ketchup, heavy cream, sugar, tandoori masala seasoning and ground cumin, mixing to combine.
9. Once the onion and eggplant are done roasting, transfer them into the sauce pan and mix to coat everything.
10. Cover with lid and heat on medium/medium high to thicken sauce and warm everything, stirring occasionally (add salt and pepper as desired). This process for me took around 15-20 minutes, but it may vary oven to oven. Once everything is warmed through and thickened, turn off heat and leave covered until eating.
11. While makhani sauce is warming, cook rice according to package instructions.
12. Additionally, if you are warming your serving bread, do that as well.
13. For my bread I cut three pita rounds into quarters, brushed both sides with olive oil and placed on sheet pan. I minced one clove of garlic and placed on top amongst all the pieces and broiled on high until brown.
14. To serve, add rice to a plate and top with the warmed eggplant makhani. Place bread on the side and sprinkle everything with black pepper and fresh parsley.
15. Enjoy! 🙂
***Store leftovers in refrigerator and they can be easily reheated in either the microwave or oven.***
